Decreased 1-25 Dihydroxyvitamin D3 Concentration in Peripheral Blood Serum of Patients with Thyroid Cancer

Background and AimsVitamin D3, in addition to its role in calcium homeostasis, has been recognized as playing a role in human cancer development. However, little is known about the association between vitamin D status and the development of thyroid cancer. This study aimed to investigate vitamin D metabolism by measuring 25(OH) D3, 1-25 (OH)2 D3, PTH and calcium concentrations in the peripheral blood of patients with different forms of thyroid tumors.MethodsThe 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 ,1-25- dihydoxyvitamin D3, PTH and calcium serum levels of 50 consecutive patients with epithelial thyroid cancer 27 cases of papillary cancers (PTC), 16 follicular cancers (FTC), and seven cases of anaplastic cancers (ATC) and 34 multinodular nontoxic goiter (MNG) were measured by specific immunoassay. The control group consisted of 26 healthy volunteers.ResultsOur results revealed significantly lower 1-25 (OH)2 D3 concentration in the PTC group (22.67 pg/mL ± 8.12; p <0.05), FTC group (16.09 pg/mL ± 6.15; p <0.02) and ATC group (9.48 pg/mL ± 5.18; p <0.02). Levels of 1-25 (OH)2 D3 varied by cancer stage and were also significantly different. A significant decrease in circulating 1-25 (OH)2 D3 concentration was found in patients with stage I (24.12 pg/mL ± 6.77; p <0.05), stage II (16.93 pg/mL ± 4.55; p <0.05), stage III (12.44 ± 8.98; p <0.02) and in stage IVa (6.18 ± 2.22; p <0.01). There were no significant differences when comparing serum levels of 25(OH) D3, PTH or calcium concentrations among individuals with multinodular goiter, thyroid cancer and age- and sex-matched control volunteers.ConclusionsOur study revealed that impaired vitamin D3 metabolism may play an important role in thyroid follicular cell oncogenesis.